


Livin' On A Prayer

by PotatoKing



Category: We Know the Devil (Visual Novel)
Genre: Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Canon Trans Character, F/F, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Post-Canon, She Has A Hand For Every Kind Of Touch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 00:04:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10524729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotatoKing/pseuds/PotatoKing
Summary: Based on a headcanon that after the True Ending, Group West became protective patron deities for queer kids. Short drabble I wrote in around an hour because of reasons.





	

The children pray to them at night.

It was one of those things that just kind of…happened. They used to pray to God, or even Him like Venus used to, but now they pray to the three worst girls since Eve. A legend whispered and passed through generation after generation of the Summer Scouts.

They pray to Venus, mostly; it takes a few attempts to get her, but when she notices she’s more likely to pick up. She does her best to help, but even deities have their limits. You hear stories, though. “Venus taught me how to fix my radio”, “Venus bought me my first binder”, “She helped me pick out my first dress”. Things like that.

Some pray to Neptune. Few can get her to pick up the line, but those who’ve managed it say that it’s well worth the effort to try because if you can get Neptune to pick up, she might put a word in with Her.

The most desperate pray to Jupiter. The ones whose parents beat them, who were taught to see themselves as less than human, seek out her help.

 

***

 

In the middle of a June heatwave in 2016, a girl in Group East prayed to Neptune. She talked to her for a while, played a couple hands of euchre, and Neptune went quiet. The girl thought that she had dropped the line before the radio crackled again and she heard her ask what the mark on her arm was.

“I-It’s nothing,” the girl stuttered, before she appeared. Neptune was calm, in the same way that a lake is calm when you’re lying on the bottom looking up and don’t fight the urge to swim back to the top. She held out her right arm and turned it palm up. The girl found herself mimicking her. Neptune took a slow step towards her and rolled up the girl’s sleeve, revealing an almost perfectly rectangular mark too red to have been caused by a single blow about an inch wide that ran diagonally along her forearm.

“How did you get this?” Neptune asked, her head tilting down and her brow furrowing slightly.

“I…Umm…Look, it…” the girl drifted off and Neptune sighed.

“Hell, you’re just like Venus. I know. I just need you to say it.” Neptune took a knee, and looked up into the girl’s eyes. The girl took a second to breathe before answering.

“My Dad.” The girl responded. Neptune stood up, covering her mouth as she cleared her throat.

“Wait here a moment. You need to talk to Jupiter.” The girl’s eyes lit up.

“Really? You’d put in a word with her for me?” she asked. Neptune pondered a moment before responding.

“Something like that,” she said before disappearing.

A minute or two later, she re-appeared. Next to her was a figure in an olive-green jacket with auburn hair that fell over her shoulders, and spectral red hands that fell beside her and seemed to move on their own.

“So,” Jupiter began, her face not giving anything away. “I’m given to understand that you’re in need of my…assistance.” 

Jupiter was still relatively new to this whole 'good and righteous guardian of the innocent' shtick, and while it was a role that she was more than willing to adopt it was one that took a bit of getting used to. For instance, there were times when she wasn't sure whether she was supposed to go for a relaxed, easy-to-approach tone or something closer to what one might associate with a vengeful deity. As a result she often ended up hitting somewhere in the middle of the two, so if one can imagine the tone that the Devil might strike if they had to ask their neighbour for a cup of sugar, then one can imagine the tone of voice in which Jupiter said this.

The girl was nervous but she nodded. She held out her arm for Jupiter to examine the mark. She took a step toward her and looked down at the welt. She has a hand for every kind of touch. This one is for comforting, and the girl felt warm in a pleasant way for the first time since the beginning of this insufferable summer. This one is for healing, and the wound slowly disappeared as she gently brushed it along her arm.

When the mark had vanished completely, Jupiter rested the hands by her side once more.

“You feeling better?” She asked, and the girl nodded. “Good,” she continued, “because unfortunately from here it’s going to get worse before it gets better. But I promise you, it will get better.” It was at this point that Neptune elected to give her girlfriend a brief peck on the cheek that left Jupiter stunned at the unexpected contact.

“Tell us about your Dad, kiddo.” Neptune finished on Jupiter’s behalf. The girl’s breath was shaky, but she managed her way through a story that hardly bears repeating. Suffice to say that her Dad was not a pleasant man, and if so much as a tenth of it was true then he had entirely deserved what happened to him next.

 

***

 

Jupiter manifested on a suburban street, the oppressive heat of the still summer air disorienting her for a second. She did a 360, and spotted the house she was looking for. She made her way to the door and knocked. A pale man in a stained white tank top and a red baseball hat answered the door. Before the man could say anything, Jupiter held up a picture of the girl.

“Is this your daughter?” She asked. The man sneered.

“Yeah. What of it?” He answered. Jupiter smiled darkly.

On Jupiter’s surface is the largest storm in the solar system. Inside Jupiter’s heart lies the second largest. She has a hand for every kind of touch. This one is for hitting. The man recoiled from the blow. This one is for grabbing. The man was lifted by his lapels into the air, and his hat found itself uprooted from its perch. This one is for tearing. The two halves of his hat fluttered to the ground.

She has a hand for every kind of touch. This one is for throwing. The man rolled across the lawn before being stopped by a hedge. Jupiter walked over calmly, and her foot pressed down on his chest hard enough to quell any thoughts in his mind about standing up. She bent down.

“Just so we’re completely clear with one another, the only reason that you’re still conscious is that your daughter asked me to go easy on you because the next in line for guardianship in your family is somehow even worse. You understand that?” She asked. The man nodded quickly.

“Good. If you so much as think about touching a hair on your daughter’s head again, I swear on my honour as a deity that all three of us will be down here in a heartbeat to give. You. Hell. Am I clear?” Once again the man nodded furiously. Jupiter removed her foot from his chest and allowed him to stand up.

“You…you’re _her,_ aren’t you? Their ‘protector’” He phrased it as a question but his tone carried it as a statement. A disgusted statement, but a statement nonetheless. Jupiter smiled.

“You’ve heard of me, I see. Make sure you’re not the last one to hear. Oh, and before I leave…” one of the hands drifted from her side and gripped the man’s wrist tightly. This one is for retribution, and a long red mark rose on his arm as he cried in pain. He looked back up and Jupiter was gone.


End file.
